Public Market for Vernon ?

Posted by Colin Heggie

on May 10, 2016

Dan Rieb arranged our meeting at Ratio Coffee, in the old train station at 3101 29th St. His purpose was to present his vision of a public market, using this historic building, plus its sister building to the north, & the easterly half acre lot which makes up one third of the City’s old Coldstream Hotel lot to the west. The City’s Official Community Plan, & at least a couple of business development studies, mention a public market as a desirable feature of a dynamic downtown. The benefits of a market, particularly in a central location surrounded by workers with good jobs, are obvious. Dan & his group of investors have a plan to purchase the two train station buildings, join them with an atrium, retain anchor tenants at each end, redevelop the interior space to market use, & operate a management company. They have yet to obtain support of the City in leasing the portion of their property needed to make this plan work. Members with questions or comments about this proposal are invited to contact Dan.